Who was Homer?
Tradition says that a great blind poet named Homer
wrote the Iliad and Odyssey, the epic poems about the
Trojan War and its aftermath.

Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have a more detailed look at the
Iliad

How does the great poem start?
With the invocation to the
Muse Calliope.
Homer needs poetic
inpiration to start his
poem. So he invocates to
the goddess of
poetry.

The first verses of the Iliad
Προοίμιον

Iliad :the story…
The story is about Achilles’ wrath
Against Agamemnon who was the
leader of the Greek army.
Agamemnon deprived Achilles’
war prize, Briseis, after his one,
Chryseis, was taken away.
Achilles’ social prestige was
violated.Thus ,he became very
angry and withdrew his warriors, the
Mirmidons ,

â&#x20AC;Śthe story continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś
The Trojans were winning the
Achaeans and caused
major damage to their army.
The Greeks and Agamemnon himself
regretted for the
way they treated Achilles .
A delegation composed of Odysseus,
Ajax and
Phoenix visited Achilles and asked
him to return to
the battle field , offering him
Briseis and extensive gifts.

…and…what did Achilles answer?
His answer was NO.
He angrily refused
Agamemnon's offer, and
declared that he would only
return to battle if the Trojans
reached the greek ships
and threaten them with fire.
The embassy returns
empty-handed.

Patroclus enters the battleâ&#x20AC;Ś
The Trojans with their leader Hector,came too close to
them and started setting them on fire.
Patroclus could stand to watch no longer.
He begged Achilles to take his place in the battle and
the latter agreed to lent him his armor.
However ,Achilles sends him off with a stern
admonition not to pursue the Trojans

…but Patroclus disobeyed…
He ignored Achilles’
command and
reached the gates
of Troy.
Soon after that
he was killed
by Hector.
Hector took
Achilles’ armor.

Achilles’ grief…
Achilles hearing Patroclus’
death ,he was mad with
grief and vowed to take
vengeance on Hector.
He drove his charriot into
battle and chased Hector.

Hectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death
Achilles killed Hector and dishonoured his body.

Priam,the tragic fatherâ&#x20AC;Ś
Priam took a wagon out of
Troy and entered the Greek
camp unnoticed. He grasped
Achilles by the knees and
begged to have his son's body.
Achilles was moved to tears,
and the two lamented their
losses in the war. After a meal,
Priam carried Hector's body
back into Troy. Hector was
buried, and the city mourned.

… and this is how Iliad ended…

The manuscripts
The text of the Iliad has
been preserved through
plenty of manuscripts.
Some of the most notable are:
ď&#x201A;&#x17E; Venetus Marcianus 822
from the 10th century
ď&#x201A;&#x17E; Venetus Marcianus 821
from the 11th century

The Papyri

The Â Iliad. Book 10. 421-434, 445-460. This is the earliest papyrus fragment containing a text of
Homer